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Posts Tagged ‘common eider’
Friday, December 17th, 2010
 Back of Beech Nut. Evidence of last night’s light snowfall remained when first I looked out the windows. The shady back deck was covered in white, and also the shoulders of Route 1. But a bright sun soon took care of all that. And the day warmed quickly above freezing.
 Moon over Penobscot Bay. I managed to tear myself away in early afternoon and clip Jack’s leash on, and the two of us piled into the pickup. One vehicle in the Beech Hill parking lot again, although no birds conspicuously called. The track had gone about half-muddy by the time we began our hike. We met two couples walking down. A lovely day, in fact—sunny, mild, just a very slight breeze.
Ascending, I did hear crows calling from a couple points down the southern slope—but that was it, bird-wise. The bay, when it became visible, seemed clean and smooth except for a few rough spots near shore. Oceangoing clouds marched along in the distance, as they tend to do at this time of year. Elephant clouds, I call them.
Coming around Beech Nut, I stopped to admire the restored back-side of the hut. I couldn’t remember ever taking a picture of the back-side, so I did.
The daytime moon looked down on us from the eastern sky as we came back down, as if inspecting the naked hill. Finally, back at the parking lot, I heard the voice of a solitary creeper.
Tonight, the sky is clear as a bell. Orion and Sirius have risen early.
Saw a downy woodpecker in the trees out back this morning. Heard house sparrows across the road. Driving up Powerhouse Hill, I happened to look out over Clam Cove just as a long string of ducks flapped crazily past away offshore—eiders, I feel sure.
Tomorrow is the Christmas Bird Count. I expect to see more eiders.
 Beech Nut window. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 2 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. American crow (voice)
2. Brown creeper (voice)
Elsewhere
3. House sparrow
4. Downy woodpecker
5. Herring gull
6. Common eider
Tags: American crow, brown creeper, common eider, downy woodpecker, herring gull
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Saturday, October 30th, 2010
 Dark-eyed junco. The day dawned brilliantly sunny and cold. I made a quick playdate for Jack with my friend D’s dog, Boone, since the two of them hadn’t seen each other for many months. Also, seeing as how we’d be headed to Birch Point Beach State Park, it meant Jack could run around without a leash for a while. Woo-hoo!
 Horned grebe. As the four of us headed to shore, a cloak of clouds moved over, and I heard several golden-crowned kinglets up in the boughs of the spruces. Also chickadees. And juncos—ever-present this time of year, it seems. As we approached the beach, right away I saw a lone grebe diving not too far offshore: a horned grebe in half-molt such that it very much resembled a red-necked (which I’ve seen in these parts before), but its bill was pretty small. Beyond the grebe, a loon dove. And in the periphery were herring gulls and eiders.
It was a lovely, brisk, carefree hike—right until we got talking with a neighbor who confirmed that today was, in fact, the first day of deer season. With rifles. That explained the gunfire we’d heard shortly before and also convinced us to change our route from a wooded one to a return trip along the road. Jack got appropriately tuckered out and enjoyed his time with Boone immensely.
We finished our shore hike in late morning and headed directly to Beech Hill. The day had become partly sunny by then, and the landscape is now a deep rich, rust color.
 Northern harrier. Not many birds right off. I heard a white-throated sparrow. As we made the first turn, a small flock of robins flapped above us, southwest-bound. Then I saw a big bird—a harrier—floating up toward the summit. Then another. A pair of harriers. They dipped below the ridgeline, so I ran with Jack up the steep trail in hopes of photos. (I have a secret wish to grab a decent photo of a harrier.) Fired off a few pictures, but none turned out that great. Still, at the summit, one of the birds had apparently circled around, so I fired off a couple more. And then I thought I saw it again high in the southeast sky—but this bird was hovering, hanging motionless in the air, flapping only occasionally. I saw through my binoculars that this one was a red-tailed hawk. And there, beyond it, a second. So I fired off a few distant photos of red-tails.
Returning, we heard—then saw—a raven. And a solitary (odd) junco pecking about the edge of the trail. And coming back down the steep slope, I caught sight of a huge bird soaring over to the north, its giant wings pulled in for speed: an immature bald eagle.
Only eight species on the hill today, and three of them were raptors.
 Red-tailed hawk. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 11:45 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. White-throated sparrow (voice)
2. American robin
3. Northern harrier
4. American crow
5. Red-tailed hawk
6. Common raven
7. Dark-eyed junco
8. Bald eagle
Elsewhere
9. Golden-crowned kinglet
10. Black-capped chickadee
11. Horned grebe
12. Common loon
13. Herring gull
14. Common eider
15. Mourning dove
 Inland hills.
Tags: American crow, American robin, bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, common eider, common loon, common raven, dark-eyed junco, golden-crowned kinglet, herring gull, horned grebe, mourning dove, northern harrier, red-tailed hawk, white-throated sparrow
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Thursday, October 28th, 2010
 Morning sun. What a day. Although we lay around in bed a while first, dog and I managed to drag ourselves up, grab some clothes and a leash, and head for Beech Hill at a fairly reasonable hour. Here at the shore—despite a forecast of sun—a thick fog cloaked everything. Still air, though, and a warm temperature. Maybe 55 or 60 degrees (F).
 Ghost of northern harrier. Nearing the hill, I spied blue sky and some patches of sunlight against the ruddy landscape of the inland hills. A wet, damp, luscious trail. A dozen juncos greeted us at the entrance to the parking lot. A jay cried. Two or three golden-crowned kinglets flitted about in some young conifers there, but I couldn’t nab a photo. Chickadees and several robins calling. Also a crow.
Twenty or thirty juncos, at least, dotted the trail as we made the first turn, pecking about for grass seed or somesuch, a couple white-throated and song sparrows among them. A handful of yellow-rump chipped in the branches of trailside trees, along with a solitary palm warbler, flicking its tail.
It was an odd atmosphere: seemed like the sun would emerge, but then a blanket of fog moved across the sun. Puddles, red undergrowth, golden-brown trees. I thought I might catch sight of a harrier, but the fog thickened. Then I heard three woodpeckers in a row—flicker, hairy, and pilated. Juncos at the summit, as well, flitting and tittering about the fringes of Beech Nut.
 White-throated sparrow. Coming back down, I was photographing a tiny red-leafed plant in the grass when I saw movement in the periphery. Sure enough, a harrier had passed in the fog, looking ghostly. Then I heard the distinctive calls of a titmouse from somewhere nearby.
I learned even more about the behavior of juncos today—and to identify the chip note of palm warblers.
In early afternoon, I rode my bicycle fourteen miles, which brough my year’s total to 2,006. A record. During the course of the ride, I twice heard the voices of starlings.
Right at 5 p.m., I decided to walk with Jack out the breakwater for the first time since, I think, last spring. The prospect excited him, and we had a brisk walk to the end and back. Saw cormorants, eiders, gulls, and a lovely sunset. Crazily, the harbor had a chop in it, and the island side seemed smooth and pink and clean.
 Double-crested cormorant. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:15 a.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Dark-eyed junco
2. Blue Jay
3. Golden-crowned kinglet
4. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
5. American robin
6. American crow
7. White-throated sparrow
8. Song sparrow
9. Yellow-rumped warbler
10. Palm warbler
11. Northern flicker (voice)
12. Hairy woodpecker (voice)
13. Pileated woodpecker (voice)
14. Northern harrier
15. Tufted titmouse (voice)
Elsewhere
16. Herring gull
17. European starling
18. Double-crested cormorant
19. Common eider
20. Northern cardinal
 Sunset over Rockland Harbor.
Tags: American crow, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, common eider, dark-eyed junco, double-crested cormorant, European starling, golden-crowned kinglet, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern harrier, palm warbler, pileated woodpecker, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
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| Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson |
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